Recording the Police and Police Cameras in New Jersey

Reviewed by William A. Proetta, Esq. · Updated October 2026

Yes. You can record police officers performing their duties in public in New Jersey, as long as you do not interfere with what they are doing. The federal appeals court for New Jersey has held that the First Amendment protects this, and a 2021 Attorney General directive tells New Jersey officers not to stop you.

The limits are practical ones. Recording gives you no right to cross police lines or get in the way, and an officer can tell you to move if your position materially impedes safety or police duties, though not to stop recording. Police also record you: uniformed patrol officers generally must wear body cameras, and that footage often matters in a criminal case. For the rest of your rights during police encounters, see our guide to your rights with police in New Jersey.

Is it legal to record police in New Jersey?

Yes. In Fields v. City of Philadelphia, 862 F.3d 353 (3d Cir. 2017), the Third Circuit, whose rulings bind federal courts in New Jersey, held that the First Amendment protects recording police officers performing official duties in public. No expressive purpose is required. The court added two limits: the right is “subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions,” and “If a person’s recording interferes with police activity, that activity might not be protected.” (The officers in Fields received qualified immunity, because the right was not yet clearly established at the time of the 2012–13 events.)

New Jersey’s Attorney General built the same principle into AG Law Enforcement Directive No. 2021-11, “First Amendment Right to Observe, Object to, and Record Police Activity,” issued December 7, 2021. It says bystanders have “the right to witness, observe, photograph, audio and video record” officers in public places, and in private places where they have a right to be.

What can’t police do when I’m recording?

Directive 2021-11 lists what officers may not do to someone lawfully recording, and the limits that still apply.

The directive also addresses your phone. A warrant is generally required to seize and search a recording device. An officer may seize a device when arresting you, but searching it still needs a warrant. A warrantless seizure of a device for the evidence on it is allowed only in narrow emergencies: a violent crime involving serious bodily injury or death, plus a risk the evidence will be lost. Even then, searching the device requires a warrant unless there is an imminent danger. Our page on police searches of phones in New Jersey explains the broader warrant rules.

Can I record audio of police, or is that wiretapping?

If you are the person talking with the officer, New Jersey’s one-party consent rule covers you. N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-4(d) makes an interception lawful where the person recording “is a party to the communication,” unless it is done to commit a criminal or tortious act. A driver recording a traffic stop, or a person recording an officer who is questioning them, is a party to that conversation.

For bystanders, Directive 2021-11 expressly includes audio recording among the activity officers must allow, though the directive is police policy and does not settle how the wiretap law applies to every recording. Either way, record openly rather than secretly, and do not secretly record conversations you are not part of.

How do I film police safely without interfering?

Recording is protected. Getting in the way is not, and obstruction under N.J.S.A. 2C:29-1 is a disorderly persons offense or, if it obstructs the detection or investigation of a crime or a prosecution, a 4th-degree crime. These habits keep the focus on the officers’ conduct rather than yours:

• Keep your distance. Stay well back, across the street if you can. Never step between an officer and the person they are dealing with.
• Hold the phone openly. Don’t make sudden movements toward an officer, and don’t follow officers as they move.
• If told to move, move and keep recording. The directive allows officers to reposition you. Say “I’ll move back” and do it.
• If you are the person stopped, comply first. Recording does not excuse ignoring a lawful order, such as producing your license or stepping out of the car. Tell the officer before reaching for your phone, or mount it before the officer reaches your window. Our page on your rights at a traffic stop covers what officers can require.
• If an officer takes your phone, don’t resist. Say “I do not consent to a search of my phone,” and challenge the seizure later.
• Preserve the footage. Back it up to a cloud account or send it to your lawyer, and write down the time, place and badge numbers while they are fresh.

When do police have to turn on their body cameras?

Under N.J.S.A. 40A:14-118.3, “every uniformed State, county, and municipal patrol law enforcement officer shall wear a body worn camera,” subject to listed exceptions (such as undercover work, administrative duties or meeting a confidential informant) and “subject to the limit of funds appropriated.” N.J.S.A. 40A:14-118.5 sets the rules for using it.

Two remedies matter in criminal cases. If an officer fails to record or keep footage as the statute requires and the defendant reasonably asserts it, the defendant gets a “rebuttable presumption that exculpatory evidence was destroyed or not captured.” And under AG Directive 2022-1, footage recorded in violation of the policy is inadmissible, except in proceedings about the violation.

Do New Jersey police cars have to have dashcams?

Not necessarily. N.J.S.A. 40A:14-118.1 says municipal police vehicles acquired on or after its effective date (March 1, 2015) that are “primarily used for traffic stops shall be equipped with a mobile video recording system.” But in 2016 the Council on Local Mandates found that statute to be an unfunded mandate, and the State did not challenge the finding. Under the State Constitution, a provision found to be an unfunded mandate ceases to be mandatory. The Supreme Court described that history in Reed v. Muoio, A-66-24 (N.J. July 2, 2026), a case about a related DWI surcharge. Don’t assume a patrol car had a working camera; confirm it in discovery.

How do I get police video for my case?

In a criminal case, through discovery. After indictment, R. 3:13-3 requires the State to provide “photographs, video and sound recordings” and recorded statements, along with police reports. In municipal court, R. 7:7-7 lets the defendant request “video and sound recordings.” A lawyer sends the demand with the entry of appearance, a self-represented defendant writes to the municipal prosecutor, and the prosecutor must respond within 10 days.

As a person recorded. If you were a subject of a body camera recording, you can ask that it be kept for 3 years, and the statute lets eligible people view it to decide whether to make that request. Ask early, because the minimum retention period is 180 days.

Through a public records request. In Fuster v. Township of Chatham, A-33-23 (N.J. Jan. 21, 2025), the Supreme Court ordered body camera footage of the plaintiff’s own statement released under the Open Public Records Act on the facts of that case. The Court suggested the body camera law may supplement OPRA rather than replace it, but expressly left open how the two interact.

Our page on using body camera footage in a criminal defense explains how video is used to test a police report, and when footage shows an unlawful stop or search, the remedy is a motion to suppress.

Talk to a Lawyer About Police Video

Video, yours or the officer’s, often decides whether a police report holds up. Call William Proetta Criminal Law at (201) 793-8018 for a free, confidential case review, or contact us.